2011 - A Breakthrough Year!!

OK.  Now is the time for reflection.  The 2010/11 season is officially over.  No more races planned until ... November!  How did 2010/11 season shape up?  Did it go to plan?  Did I learn anything?

Goals

I had set myself up to have a big season, with some big goals. 

-      To complete two Ironman races in one year

-      To go sub 11 hours for my 'A race', Ironman UK

-      8 day Lands End to John O’Groats cycle journey

-      To run a sub-1.30 half marathon

-      To finish the year by completing the Liverpool marathon

Race Schedule

Month	Race
October	Liverpool 10k
January	Helsby Half Marathon
February	Mersey Tri Duathlon
March	Liverpool Half Marathon
May	Mersey Tri Duathlon
June	Bala Middle Distance Triathlon
June	Liverpool Olympic Distance Triathlon
July	Ironman UK
August	Lakeland Olympic Distance
September	Ironman Wales
October	Liverpool Marathon

I raced 11 times this year compared to only 4 races last year.  Of the 11 races, I hit PB’s in 8 of them.

PB’s

During the year I improved my Personal Best times:

Let's celebrate those PB's!!

• 10k by 3 minutes 
• Olympic Triathlon by 7 minutes 
• Half Marathon by 8 minutes 
• Marathon by 20 minutes 
• Ironman by 50 minutes

How?

• Between October and July I put in almost 500 hours of consistent training, compared to 360 the year before. 
• I managed to do a lot of cycling – 7,500k – compared to 5,000k the year before, including two fantastic cycle trips (Ireland in May and LEJOG in July). 
• I had limited training time in November & December so used it to develop some run speed to bring into 2011.  
• I swam in the mornings, allowing more evening time for running or cycling.
• I had no real injuries or illness during the year so was able to maintain consistent training.
• I have the most supportive wife ever!

What didn’t go as well as hoped?

• Looking through my training log and it’s clear that I did not do very many long runs (25-32k) during the year.  I need to keep a long run in the weekly schedule in 2012. 

• Not enough higher intensity work on the bike.  There were plenty of endurance miles but not many miles where I pushed the speed.  As the weather improved, turbo training became non-existent and so did all interval work. 
• As the season progressed, post March, I eased off higher intensity run work in favour of longer, slower runs (but not ‘long enough’ runs!).  I felt this impacted on run speed whilst not significantly improving my overall run endurance.  Perhaps too much non-specific run training? 
• Racing interrupted training too much!  A lot of time spent tapering and recovering impacted on training plans. 
• The back end of the season was good – but not great.  Fitness dipped due to a lot of time spent tapering and/or recovering from Bala Middle, LEJOG, IMUK and IMWales. 
• In two of my races (Lakeland Triathlon & Ironman Wales), when PB’s were beyond me, my motivation and ability to push myself dipped.

What did I learn?

• Training for Ironman isn’t just about long, slow training – it should be a mix of intensities and distances.
• I now know my VDOT score and my run pace zones – which I need to translate into my training plans for 2012.
• My swimming is good, my bike and run are average (but improving).  If I want to improve my overall race positions, my bike and run speed needs to improve.
• At last I feel like I can ride a bike and hold my own in group rides.
• Good bike training really helps with running the Ironman marathon.
• Although I like plotting out my training plans, effective training requires a lot more thought and preparation.  It also requires regular testing to see whether training is leading to improvements.  I didn’t do this enough.
• People who win age groups at races are a lot faster – but not necessarily any more talented or more ‘willing to put the hours in’ - than me.  More effective training, over a longer period of time - and a never say die attitude in racing - is probably the difference.
• I need a deeper goal than to get a PB.  If I can’t achieve a PB (e.g. bike mechanical, a long or a tough course) I need something that I can hang on to so I can dig deep when it starts to get tough.
• A standalone marathon, although not an Ironman, is still a considerable challenge and needs specific training to do it justice. Respect the distance!

Celebrations!

Highlights of the year

• Going under 10 hours 30 minutes in Ironman UK was the highlight – because that’s what all the training was focussed on.
• Doing a 50 and a 51 minute swim in IMUK & IMWales
• Pacing IMUK so I was able to run a 3.29 marathon
• Completely surprising myself in the Helsby Half Marathon and running a 1.27 – in January!
• The Lands End to John O’Groats trip was excellent fun.  Feeling strong enough on a number of days to lead the group and learning how to descend were two highlights of the trip!
  

Amazing!!

Of course, one of the real highlights of the year was seeing Lynn go from not being able to run for more than two minutes to completing a half marathon – in just 8 months! In that time she raced a 5k, a 10k, a sprint triathlon, a cycling holiday in Ireland, a half marathon and a cycle sportive!  Amazing!!

It was good fun on the social side of things too, meeting new people and making new friends.  During the year I got to know more and more Mersey Tri members too.  Our Ireland training trip in May was excellent and LEJOG was an unbelievable experience. 

Moving forward into 2012

It’s time to set some goals, pick out some more races (I’ve already entered Ironman Majorca 70.3 and Challenge Roth) and plan my training - but that’s for another time.

Let’s hope I can build on the breakthrough season that was 2011 and hit some new heights throughout 2012, whilst still having fun!